Sonia's 'No' on Priyanka and Rahul (Go To Top)

          Allahabad: Setting at rest speculation, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday ruled out her children Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra entering electoral politics. "There is nothing like that," she told newsmen here when asked about the possibility of her children contesting the coming Lok Sabha elections.

          The benefits of the much publicised eonomic development have not percolated down to the farmers, women and the youth, Sonia told reporters in Swaraj Bhawan, the ancestral home of the Nehru-Gandhi clan in Allahabad. Gandhi, who addressed several impromptu rallies during her visit to the villages to give a personal touch to her campaign, said her's was not a "road show" as the media termed it.

Anti-Sonia demonstrators lathi-charged (Go To Top)

          Allahabad: Police on Saturday resorted to lathicharge on Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activists marching towards Swaraj Bhawan here where the Congress president Sonia Gandhi is staying since last evening. Several ABVP activists holding black flags marched towards the Swaraj Bhawan raising anti-Sonia slogans. While the police used force to disperse the crowd, some Congress Sewa Dal activists allegedly pelted stones at the demonstrators. While not much could not be heard in the commotion, the ABVP activists were demanding that Sonia Gandhi change her venue and not use the historic building for "political activities". Meanwhile, a group of National Students' Union of India (NSUI) raised anti-SPG slogans for denying them entry inside the building to meet Sonia Gandhi. The reported presence of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra inside the premises made the NSUI activists to try to gatecrash inside even as small delegations were being allowed to meet the Congress leader.

Play starts March 13; No Tests in Peshawar, Karachi (Go To Top)

          Kolkata: The first one-day international between India and Pakistan will be played at Karachi on March 13. The next one-dayer will be played at Peshawar on March 19 and Lahore will be the venue for the last two matches of the series on March 21 and 24. During the 40-day tour, the first Test will be played at Multan between March 28 and April 1, the second at Lahore between April 5 and April 9 and the third at Rawalpindi from April 13 to April 17. The team will return on April 18. Addressing a press conference here on Saturday BCCI chief Jagmohan Dalmiya said: "We could not accommodate Karachi and Peshawar in the Test series. But we hope in future these venues will be considered for Test matches."

          Dalmiya said the Indian team will be selected on March 3 at Kolkata. The team will then assemble on March 8 at New Delhi where the Home Ministry and the External Affairs Ministry will brief the players on the "do's and don'ts" for the tour, Dalmiya said. Asked why the one-dayers preceded the Test series, he said there were two reasons for holding the limited-over series first. "The team has come from Australia after a one-day series so it would be easier for them to adjust. We understand the importance of the selections and drew up the itinerary so that there is minimum interference with the selection process," Dalmiya said.

          In New Delhi, Sports Minister Vikram Varma announced at a press conference that India will not play cricket Tests at Peshawar and Karachi.

BJP to contest 22 seats in Maharashtra (Go To Top)

          Mumbai/Hoshiarpur: The Bharatiya Janata Party said on Saturday it would contest 26 seats in Maharashtra for the forthcoming general elections. The ruling government's ally, Shiv Sena party, would contest 22 seats. BJP leader Pramod Mahajan told reporters here that his party would contest in the same constituencies as it had fielded candidates in the last elections. "In 1999 the Shiv Sena contested on 22 seats and the Bharatiya Janata Party on 26. In today's meeting, we have decided that the number will remain the same. As far as constituencies are concerned, they will also be the same. We have not made any changes," Mahajan said on Saturday.

          The BJP-led government, bouyed by the victories in the provincial elections in December and a bumper harvest resulting from an abundant monsoon rains last year, has called early elections, eight months ahead of schedule. Meanwhile, Laxman Singh, a dissident Congress leader from central Madhya Pradesh, announced that he had joined the rival BJP. Laxman, brother of former Madhya Pradesh chief Digvijay Singh, said he was dissatisfied over Congress party's alliance with southern Dravida Munnetra Khazgham, which was earlier accused of having links with Tamil separatists.

Lashkar plan to attack IGI airport foiled (Go To Top)

          Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir police on Saturday claimed to have foiled a fidayeen plan to attack New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport and arrested three terrorists of the outfit. Those arrested were identified as Assadullah alias Abudilal of Gujranwala town, Mohd Bashir alias Abu Mariah and Rashid alia Abu Kasha, both residents of Karachi," said director general of police Gopal Sharma. They were entrusted to carry out the attack at the airport by a top LeT commander Abu Salem who had allegedly engineered the attack on Jammu Railwaay Station on January 2 which claimed six lives. Fifty six AK rifles, 12 hand grenades, 12 AK magazine and 480 rounds, were recovered from those arrested, the police chief said.

Khan earned 3 million dollars from Iran in nuke gate: Malaysia (Go To Top)

          Kuala Lumpur: Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb, sold Iran nuclear centrifuge parts for three million dollars in cash and also arranged to send enriched uranium to Libya when he was at the helm of Pakistan's nuclear programme. This was disclosed by a Sri Lankan businessman, identified by U.S. President George W. Bush as the deputy of Dr. A.Q. Khan. He has also named seven key European middlemen responsible for the "Nuke Gate". According to Malaysian intelligence authorities probing the international nuclear proliferation scam, businessman Buhary Syed Abu Tahir has named citizens of Germany, Turkey, Britain and Switzerland as the alleged middlemen involved in the nuclear arms black market.

           The 12-page report, which will be handed to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), names the following middlemen alleged as having links to Dr. Khan: Switzerland: (1) Friedrich Tinner, a mechanical engineer, is alleged to have had dealings with Khan since the 1980s (2) Urs Tinner, Friedrich's son. Germany: (1) The late Heinz Mebus, an engineer, is alleged to have been involved in discussions between Khan and Iran to supply centrifuge designs about 1984/85. (2) Gotthard Lerch, a German living in Switzerland. Britain: (1) Peter Griffin, a British citizen who is believed to have once owned Gulf Technical Industries based in Dubai Turkey: (1) Gunas Jireh and (2) Selim Aguadis. Malaysian police have also alleged that Dr. Khan sent enriched uranium to Libya in 2001 and sold nuclear centrifuge parts to Iran in the mid-1990s, The News reported.

          The report also clears the company, Scomi Precision Engineering (SCOPE), owned by Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's son Kamaluddin, of any wrong doing, saying that Tahir never told the truth about the nature of the parts he had ordered and the company thought it was involved in a legitimate business. Tahir named a Swiss citizen, Urs Friedrich Tinner, as being "actively involved in the manufacturing operations in the SCOPE factory", according to the police report.

          The report says Khan developed a "network of middlemen" that involved not only Tahir, but also "several people and companies from Europe who sought to make profits by selling certain materials and equipment." According to police, Tahir said Khan asked him to send centrifuges to Iran in 1994 or 1995. Khan told Tahir that a "certain amount of UF6 (enriched uranium) was sent by air from Pakistan to Libya" around 2001, according to police. According to the report, Tahir and Khan met Libyan representatives named as Mohamad Matuq Mohamad and Karim in Istanbul in 1997 when the Libyans asked for centrifuge units. Between 1998 and 2002 several more meetings were held, one in Casablanca and others in Dubai. The enriched uranium was sent from Pakistan to Libya by air around 2001, and "a certain number of centrifuge units were sent in 2001-2002". A senior Malaysian official said that Tahir will not be arrested because he had broken no laws in Malaysia or in other countries, but that his passport could be impounded if he tries to leave. The document concludes with a call on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to "start investigations on several individuals from Europe allegedly involved in the proliferation of nuclear weapons."

Libya got Pak centrifuge designs in laundry bags (Go To Top)

          Islamabad: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has discovered that Pakistan's A. Q. Khan and his associates used laundry bags to ship centrifuge designs to Libya. According t the Dawn, the origin of the laundry bags have been traced to the Islamabad-based Good Looks Fabrics & Tailors, a shop frequented by Khan. The clothes shop is located in Melody Market. During the second week of February, it was reported by a reputable US paper that the blueprints discovered in Libya were wrapped in plastic bags from an Islamabad dry cleaner, which later turned out to be that of GLF Tailors.

           The shop's owner, Salahuddin Abbassi, told the Dawn on Friday that Khan was a frequent visitor to the shop till about five years ago, the time corresponding to the occasion of Pakistan going overt with its nuclear capability. After the nuclear tests in 1998, Khan did not visit the shop, he said. However, a number of people recommended by Khan became my customers, he said. In response to a question if he had any idea how the centrifuge designs ended up in the shopping bags of his shop, he said, "it is not my responsibility what the buyers wrap in the shopping bags once they leave the shop," he said. Other important dignitaries are also frequent visitors to the shop, he said, adding, the shop also supplied clothing for some of President Musharraf's suits. The staff took off a photo of Dr. Khan, which used to adorn the shop, recently.

          To a question why the photograph was taken off, Abbasi said that the staff took it off without his knowledge. "Dr. Qadeer is our hero who provided a nuclear deterrent to the country," said the articulate owner of the shop. In response to a question if any security officials had investigated or asked questions of any of the staff members of the shop, Abbasi said a person came to the shop about five days ago and asked if Dr. Khan was a frequent visitor to the shop. He also confirmed that foreign media professionals from two organizations had also interviewed him. One of these interviews took place in the presence of a politician, Kabir Ali Wasti, who happened to be present there at the time.

Mamta locks horns with Bengal BJP (Go To Top)
by Gautam Ghosh

          Kolkata: Talks between the BJP and its West Bengal ally, Trinamul Congress, over seat-sharing for the coming Lok Sabha polls have apparently hit a roadblock with the state BJP demanding a few "secure seats." Trinamul Congress chairperson and Union minister for coal and mines Mamata Banerjee is naturally somewhat annoyed over the "non-cooperative attitude" of the state BJP leadership and worried about its possible fallout on the electoral alliance between the two parties.

          State BJP chief Tathagata Roy, who has so far taken care not to antagonise the Trinamul Congress leader in any manner, however, feels there is no point in fielding candidates for seats which his party can hardly expect to win. As things stand, Ms Banerjee may have to thrash out the matter with the BJP's apex leadership in Delhi, bypassing the party's state unit. According to informed sources, the BJP is claiming Asansol in Burdwan, Diamond Harbour in South 24 Parganas, Serampore in Hooghly and Contai or Tamluk in Midnapore district. The Trinamul Congress chairperson, however, has no intention to concede her party's "safe seats" in south Bengal districts and wants the latter to contest more seats from north Bengal. The BJP, of course, has little poll prospects in north Bengal which happens to be a stronghold of the ruling Marxists. Besides, the Congress has three sitting MPs from north Bengal constituencies like Raigunje, Malda and Berhampore. The BJP naturally can not expect to win these seats.

          The BJP's apex leadership has also not paid any heed to Ms Banerjee's plea for a joint poll manifesto by NDA partners. The Trinamul Congress chairperson recently mooted the idea in Kolkata, but the BJP has decided to bring out its own manifesto which will include controversial issues like construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution and introduction of a uniform civil code. Ms Banerjee, sources said, is not happy over the BJP's attempts to rake up the Ram Mandir issue on the eve of the Lok Sabha elections as it may hurt the sentiment of the minority community. She has, therefore, taken special care to woo the Muslim voters in West Bengal by announcing a number of sops for them like opening of a new burial ground in the city and laying the foundation stones for madarssas.

          Apart from the vexed issue of seat-sharing with the BJP, the Trinamul Congress leader is being plagued by the revolt of his one-time confidant and party MP from Kolkata north-west, Sudip Bandopadhyay. Ms Banerjee has already decided to replace Bandopadhyay with mayor Subrata Mukherjee as her party's nominee for Kolkata north-west, but Bandopadhyay is sparing no efforts to make her reverse her decision. Bandopadhyay earned the Trinamul Congress chairperson's wrath by hobnobbing with deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani and railway minister Nitish Kumar and making an abortive bid to enter the NDA Cabinet without her knowledge. His delayed efforts to mend fences with Ms Banerjee have so far failed to yield any positive result. As the BJP's apex leadership too has declined to intervene into the matter, Bandopadhyay has more or less decided to contest the polls from his present constituency as an independent. He, however, has kept his options open on the question of joining hands with the Congress to get re-elected in the face of tough opposition both from the Marxists and the Trinamul Congress-BJP combine.

          The state Congress too has been keeping a close watch on the turmoil within the Trinamul Congress-BJP combine over seat- sharing as well as the on-going tussle between Bandopadhyay and the Trinamul Congress chairperson. State Congress president Pranab Mukherjee has already made it clear that his party may consider fielding Bandopadhyay from Calcutta north-west only if he quits Trinamul Congress and formally joins the Congress. The state Congress hopes to increase its tally by cashing in on the differences between Trinamul Congress and the BJP. Congress chairperson Sonia Gandhi's visit to West Bengal towards the end of this month is also expected to boost the party workers' morale on the poll eve.